Part II. Capturing the Spirit

These photographs were taken by Andrew Lawson on the day of David Hockney’s and Patrick Procktor’s visit to Oxford on 19th May, 1965. Lawson, as the President of the University Art Society in 1965, invited Hockney and Procktor to speak at the Society, and the photographs show the visitors in Staircase 14 of Pembroke College engaged in sketching one another and while punting on the river Isis in Oxford. Lawson remembers vividly and fondly the events of this day, and his own audacity at inviting the artists to do some sketching. The photographs capture the summery, relaxed mood, as well as the artists at work – photographic portraits of those as they draw portraits.